In the face of the ongoing economic, monetary and financial crisis in Europe, citizens, politicians and academics increasingly discuss the costs of the European Union. The value of Europe, however, seems to remain unrecognized within this discussion. As a result, the IEP sets out to contribute to this debate by focusing on Europe‘s value from a broader perspective by: launching a study, planning several events and publishing in order to reach a wider public.
Despite many success stories of the European Union, the revived resentments against the EU are difficult to overcome and raise the fear that this might lead to a split of the Community in the near future. Given the current circumstances, it is necessary to conduct a study which analyses both the benefits of the European Union and the costs that the citizens have to pay in order to be a member of it. “What are the costs of Europe – what is its value?” – this is the theme that shall guide a number of small projects launched by the IEP that intend to enhance the public debate on Europe’s value.
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The IEP is currently working on a study that deals with the social, political and economic value of European integration in Germany and its citizens. The study is funded by the Stiftung Mercator and focuses mainly on the immaterial value of Europe. Areas that are more closely scrutinised include: European citizenship, the normative values of the European Union, the politics of migration, energy, the climate and environment, internal security, enlargement and European neighborhood policies. Regarding the material and external dimension, the value of the internal market, the euro area, regional politics and the common foreign and security policies of the European Union are examined.
A study group including in-house researchers from the Institut für Europäische Politik, as well as external experts, is currently working on the study, which will be published in May 2013.
Alternatives to the European integration project are continually discussed. Meanwhile, citizens, like experts and politicians, forget about the advantages of the European project because its success is taken for granted. integration uses this as a reason to publish a special …
On 16 January 2012, the Federal Foreign Office in cooperation with the IEP hosted a workshop dealing with the topic: “Europe’s Value.“ A number of well-known academics with a professional background in law, economics and politics from the IEP network …